Zao

Ninoy Aquino day was such a rainy day, so instead of crossing the Pasig to go to Manila, we decided to spend time around the Shangrila Mall, with a side visit to Monique's ninong at the adjoining St. Francis tower.  Vicky spied the Zao Vietnamese Bistro at the new wing of the mall, and we thought this would give us an interesting lunch.  We learned from the food attendants that the restaurant belongs to the Pasto group, and knowing this, we had high expectations as we sat down.  We started off with crunchy fried lumpia, Vietnamese style.

Without missing a beat, we started to scoop out the next viands that came in--prawns in garlic, and pork chop, which was flavored with toppings that were distinctly Vietnamese.  It was a good thing that the fried rice came just a couple of minutes after these viands were delivered--we were quite hungry and started to dig in fast.

The beef stew was a very delicious treat, one that I recommend you try.  It's not like the caldereta style that is tomato based, and while similar to the braised Chinese style, the flavor has a slight lovable twist.

The vermicelli (bihon) noodles were topped with cut lumpia, some barbecued pork and chicken bits.  We also had garlic kangkong, which a bland and a bit disappointing, but the hot seafood pho (noodle) soup, which came in last, was flavorful and delicious.  Prepare a budget of around P700 per head if you want a variety of flavors.  Service was reasonably fast, considering that there were only 3 or maybe 4 attendants, and that people had to stand in line to get a seat.